Sometimes I scratch my head, mumbling to myself something along the lines of ‘Can this be true?’… It doesn’t happen often, but it still does. Every now and then I stumble upon something that is almost too crazy or extravagant to be real. This, beloved reader, is one of those rare occasions where I ask myself the very question: True? The answer is: ‘Yes!’
What you see pictured on the left is billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s future private residence. You got that right, once this building has been completed it will be a single family residence, and it has a name, by the way: Antilla. Antilla will then rise 27 floors above the ground, featuring around 400,000 square feet of interior space.
This pixel painting, which I originally made on a 25×25 meter canvas and then minimized - to the size it now has -, took me five years of thinking and almost five minutes of painting to complete.
Hereupon, Mr. Crab desired me to use-up the editor of the ‘Gad-Fly’ forthwith, in the fiercest style within the scope of my ability, and as a specimen of my powers.
Smoky/glass has hit one minor milestone today: Part I of the Top 50 Movies series has been completed. The remaining 25 movies on the list will probably be posted throughout this year. (Although I must say that the list is far from up to date in terms of my personal favorites. I decided not to change it, though, so that the list still reflects my favorite movies as of mid 2007. Reasons for the change in preferences might have been a shift in feelings and emotions, artistic encounters or simply the growth in knowledge of and about motion pictures of all kinds.)
Director: Sofia Coppola
Actors: Scarlett Johansson, Bill Murray, Giovanni Ribisi
This lovely movie won Sofia Coppola, who also directed the movie, an Oscar for best original screenplay. The movie was also nominated for best direction, best actor in a leading role (Bill Murray) and best picture, but lost out to other movies in these categories. Lost in Translation tells a quiet love story between a famous but aged actor and a young girl, who happens to find herself in a troubled relationship with her sought-after photographer husband. It is perhaps the movie’s deep atmosphere, the superb acting and soundtrack that made this one of my all-time favorites - in combination with the great presentation of whiskey and cigars, maybe. Difficult to say as the movie is pretty good in its entirety. Besides, Lost in Translation features some of the best city shots ever put on film, making Tokyo a character of its own.
That’s what I’ve been asking myself way too often lately… What happened to two of my favorite actors? Both Al Pacino and Robert De Niro are undoubtedly two of the most talented actors who have ever been in a movie and they’ve participated in high-quality political movies. However, it seems that, at some point, they decided to pick movie parts for the money, not for quality. Despite the fact that they’re far beyond rich. They’re getting older, sure, but they could still choose to play older characters in good movies. I mean, neither of them has financial problems, so why don’t they wait for a good part to come along their way? If they want to work they can produce or finance movies if they want. Well, it doesn’t make any sense to ramble about this any longer… Just thought I should express my feelings after reading this LA Times article by Patrick Goldstein today:
I thought Francis Ford Coppola was being cranky last fall when he badmouthed Al Pacino and Robert De Niro — the stars of Coppola’s immortal “Godfather” films — for taking parts for the money and losing their passion for doing great work. “I met both Pacino and De Niro when they were really on the come,” Coppola told GQ magazine. “Now Pacino is very rich, maybe because he never spends any money; he just puts it in his mattress. . . . They all live off the fat of the land.”
Coppola was right on the money. The two icons of ’70s New Hollywood, heroes to a generation of young actors and filmmakers, have become parodies of themselves, making payday movies and turning in performances that are hollow echoes of the electrically charged work they did in such films as “Serpico,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Mean Streets” and “Taxi Driver.”
Sometimes I scratch my head, mumbling to myself something along the lines of ‘Can this be true?’… It doesn’t happen often, but it still does. Every now and then I stumble upon something that is almost too crazy or extravagant to be real. This, beloved reader, is one of those rare occasions where I ask myself the very question: True? The answer is: ‘Yes!’
